The Weekly Newspaper of Foreign Policy and International Relations Club

Volume 6, Issue 13

20 March 2012

Afghan Taliban suspend talks

The Afghan Taliban announced Thursday they have suspended a diplomatic office in Qatar

intended for talks with the United States.

The group cited what it described as the Americans' "alternating and ever-changing position" for the deci-

sion. The Taliban had opened the office on January 3 "for the purposes of reaching an understanding

with the international community and for addressing some specific issues with the American invaders

after arriving at an agreement with the government

of Qatar," the group said in a statement. Thursday's

announcement came shortly after U.S. officials said they had moved a U.S. soldier accused of killing 16

civilians out of Afghanistan and on the day that U.S.

Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta was meeting in

Kabul with President Hamid Karzai. Karzai called the

shootings in Kandahar province a cruel act against the people of Afghanistan, and told Panetta that Af-

ghans have lost trust in international forces, the

presidential palace said in a written release.

Continues on page 6

President faces harsh questioning that leads to calls for impeachment.

Iran's parliament grilled President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad over a long list of accusations, including that

he mismanaged the nation's economy and defied the authority of the country's supreme leader. Ahmadi-

nejad is the first president in the country's history

to be hauled before the Iranian parliament, a seri-

ous blow to his standing in a conflict pitting him

against elected officials and the country's powerful

clerical establishment. Iran's constitution gives

parliament the legal right to question the president,

but the body had never before taken a step that

undermined Ahmadinejad's prestige and could set

the stage for his subsequent impeachment should

legislators determine his answers were unsatisfac-

tory. Continues on page 7

Iran parliament grills embattled Ahmadinejad

THIS

WEEK

EUROPE

PAGE 2

AMERICAS

PAGE 3

OPINION

PAGE 4-5

ASIA

PAGE 6

MIDDLE EAST&AFRICA

PAGE 7

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

PAGE 8-9

TURKEY

PAGE 10

SOCIAL

PAGE 11

EDITORIAL

PAGE 12

France election 2012: Nicholas Sarkozy threatens to pull France out of Schengen zone

EUROPE

IMF approves new Greek bailout, warns on missteps

Fitch Ratings revised down

its outlook on Britain's AAA

rating to negative on

Wednesday, warning the nation could lose its top-

notch status in the next

couple of years if the

government eases back on

its debt cutting stance. Reuters / March 14, 2012

Norway’s domestic intelligence

agency (PST) chief Roger Berg said there is the

possibility that another

person similar to Breivik

could succeed in carrying

out terror attacks. BBC / March 16, 2012

French far-right leader

Marine Le Pen was due to hold a press conference on

Tuesday to officially

announce her candidacy in

next month’s presidential

elections. Le Pen will

campaign for France exit the euro and is keen on

protectionist measures to

boost the economy.

Euronews / March 13,

2012

PAGE 2

The International Monetary Fund on Thursday approved a 28 billion

euro ($36.7 billion) bailout for Greece and warned Athens there was no

room for missteps in implementing the economic program.

The IMF said it would immediately disburse 1.65 billion euros to the Greek

government, part of a broader 130 billion euro international rescue

package to keep Greece funded through 2014 and avoid a messy debt default. IMF sources said there was a sense Europe was making progress

in addressing its debt troubles, although several directors stressed the

need for the euro zone to erect a strong financial firewall to keep the crisis

from spreading.IMF mission chief to Greece, Poul Thomsen said the IMF

would support Greece's rescue effort as long as Athens stuck to its prog-

ram.Greece's problem is above all a competitiveness problem and will require difficult structural reforms and this will undoubtedly be socially

and politically challenging." he added. Updated IMF estimates put Greece's

total financing needs through the end of 2014 at 165 billion euros, an

amount that is being fully covered by fellow European nations and the IMF.

Reuters / March 15, 2012

Addressing a huge rally in Budapest, the conservative premier said the na-

tion "will not live according to the commands of foreign powers". His com-

ments came a day after the EU suspended funding for Hungary over its high budget deficit. "We will not be second-class European citizens. Our

rightful demand is to have the same standards apply to us, which apply to

other (EU) countries’’ Mr. Urban said. The suspension of funds to Hungary

came as the EU allowed Spain to run a higher deficit, leading Austria to

accuse the EU of applying "double standards". But the EU's monetary af-

fairs commissioner Olli Rehn said that "different deadlines" meant direct comparisons of the Spanish and Hungarian cases were not valid, as Buda-

pest had already been given an extension. BBC / March 16, 2012

Hungarian PM Viktor Orban denounces EU's ‘colonialism’

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has accused the European Un-

ion, of treating the country as a colony.

Nicolas Sarkozy threatened to pull France out of Europe's passport-free

zone on Sunday unless the EU tightened its borders against illegal

immigration in a "make or break" campaign rally before 60,000 supporters outside Paris.

France would stay out of Schengen "until negotiations conclude," he said.

Since his official campaign launch three weeks ago, Mr Sarkozy has veered

Right in a bid to capture the far-Right National Front vote, last week saying there were "too many foreigners in France" and promising to half the influx

of migrants.He said France would not leave policing Europe's borders to

European "technocrats"."We must undertake a reform of Schengen as structural as the reform we have

just put in place for the euro," he said. His call followed a proposal last week for an action plan to stem

the tide of illegal migration into the EU. The Telegraph/March 12,2012

David and Samantha Cameron have been given a warm welcome at the

White House as the UK and the US celebrate their ‘special relationship.’

The White House was, after all, once set alight by British troops. “It’s now

been 200 years since the British came here to the White House under some-

what different circumstances. They made quite an impression. They really lit

up the place! But we’ve moved on. And today, like so many presidents and

prime ministers before us, we meet to reaffirm one of the greatest alliances

the world has ever known,” President Obama said. In addition, Britain is set

to lend a hand to the United States with the release of strategic oil reserves.

President Obama and Prime Minister Cameron have been discussing the

issue at meetings in Washington. Impending sanctions on Iran have pushed crude prices up by 15 per

cent since January. A coordinated strategic release of reserves could slow rising fuel costs that are

threatening the fragile US economic recovery. Euronews / March 14, 2012

A highly specialized U.S. military task force is

using battlefield technology to help federal po-lice hunt elusive drug traffickers slipping over

the Mexico border in hard-to-detect ultra-light

aircraft, officials said on Thursday.

Joint Task Force North, a cadre of highly specialized Marines, soldiers, sailors and airmen, is using the

military's cutting edge radar and optical technolo-

gies to help the U.S. Border Patrol nab the drug

flights in southern Arizona and New Mexico. U.S.

authorities have recorded hundreds of ultra-light incursions along the po-

rous, nearly 2,000 mile border with Mexico in recent years. Both the Obama administration and the government of Mexican President Felipe

Calderon have in recent years stepped up cooperation to curb the smuggling

of drugs and migrants north over the U.S. border and of cash and guns

south to Mexico, where about 50,000 people have been killed in drug vio-

lence in the past five years. Reuters / March 15, 2012

AMERICAS

Special U.S. military unit hunts Mexico border drug flights

Mexico, Brazil free trade talks under threat: minister

Planned free trade negotiations between Latin America's two biggest

economies are in jeopardy as a result of a dispute over auto exports, Mexico's economy minister said on Friday.

Mexico on Thursday ceded to Brazilian pressure to slash auto sales to the

southern giant for the next three years, responding to Brazil's worries about

its manufacturers, who are struggling with a stronger currency. "Certainly (the dispute) was very difficult, it was an issue that created a lot of uncer-

tainty," Economy Minister Bruno Ferrari told reporters. "After this, it would

seem irresponsible to talk about a (free trade agreement) until confidence

has returned to the market and also to manufacturers in both countries,

who are very worried because deals need to be honoured," he added. The

deal means Mexico must still reach the 35 percent target in a year but will have four more years to reach 40 percent. Reuters / March 15, 2012

Republican candidate Rick Santorum has won two

critical primary victories in

Alabama and Mississippi,

once again shaking up the

presidential nomination race.

Euronews / March 14,

2012

Brazilian prosecutors said

on Tuesday they would file

charges against a retired

colonel over the

disappearance of five guerrillas during the 1964-

1985 military dictatorship,

the first such case to be

brought against any

military officer from that

era. Reuters / March 14,

2012

A group of U.S. lawmakers

and film star George

Clooney were arrested at

Sudan's embassy in

Washington on Friday in a protest at which activists

accused Khartoum of

blocking humanitarian aid

from reaching a volatile

border region where

hundreds of thousands of people may be short of

food.

Reuters / March 16,

2012

PAGE 3

UK to help US in oil reserve release

PAGE 4

OPINION:ASIA

Umut Yılmaz

A third-year student in the Department of International Relations.

“The worst lie is the lie that is based on half the truth.” This is a Russian proverb. When did this

proverb come out, no one knows obviously; but it could be argued that it is very much in line with cur-

rent political conjuncture of Russian Federation. Elections are most of the time problematic in post-

Soviet countries; there is always a possibility that they cause demonstrations, civil disorder, even colorful

revolutions. Starting from December 5th 2011, one day after the State Duma elections were held which

resulted with a landslide victory for Putin’s United Russia Party, the public has raised its voice. The pro-

testors argued that the elections were fixed, that Putin cheated on the elections. The tectonic movements

of Russian soil continued on early March 2012, when another landslide took place in favor of Vladimir

Vladimirovich Putin after the Russian Presidential Elections were held.

As Russia approached to 2008 Presidential Elections, most people expected President Putin to

change to constitution to allow candidates to be elected for a consecutive 3rd term. This move would have

forced the hands of anti-Putin people both inside and outside Russia, showing that Putin sees himself

above the constitution and is no more than a power hungry dictator. But Putin did something else.

Rather than changing the constitution, he pointed his trusted First Deputy Prime Minister Dmitri Medve-

dev as the candidate for presidency, as Medvedev appointed Putin as the Prime Minister. Everyone knew

that, Putin would be coming back in 2012 elections and Putin never had a habit of disappointing

“everyone”.

Another famous proverb used in Western

countries is “If someone is to tell about their miser-

ies, they must speak Russian”. Starting from the

early 20th century, Russian people experienced

many miseries some of them being First World War,

civil war after the revolution, massacres in Ukraine

and Siberia, famine and Second World War. The end

of Cold War did not make everything better. Hu-

miliation they faced from the western world com-

bined with economic crisis in 1998 made Russians

even more pessimistic about their future. When

Putin became president in 2000, he overcame those

problems to some extent. It is important to under-

stand the security and stability Russia experienced

during the first two terms of Putin administration

for understanding the contemporary Russian domestic and foreign policies. The main characteristics of

this period were reconstruction of political system, achieving a federal security, enabling domestic secu-

rity, increase in welfare, foreign policy understanding based on “national interest” and most importantly,

returning Russian national pride. (Türker, 2008)

HAVE NO FEAR, VLAD IS HERE!

PAGE 5

OPINION:ASIA

Russia became the energy superpower of the world in the Putin era. Taking the advantage of be-

ing a permanent member of UN Security Council, Russia blocked the road of imperialistic powers many

times. Putin gained enormous popularity among the Russian citizens thanks to these policies. This is the

truth part.

Although the love of people towards Putin is obvious, one may ask, why people protested so much

after the elections. The answer may lay on the speech that Putin gave after the Presidential Election of

2012. “We won”, Putin said. “We won in an open and honest battle! Thank you friends, thank you!” . This

was the speech of a conqueror in a hostile capital. Moscow gave Mr. Putin less than half of its votes. More

than 20% went to Mikhail Prokhorov, a liberal business tycoon. There were no kind words in Mr. Putin's

victory speech for his opponents; no promise to be a president of all the people, including those who

voted against him; no offer of a compromise—only of an unrelenting fight. (The Economist Web Page,

2012) It is a political custom to thank the opponents, and to claim yourself as the president of all the

people. But Putin’s ambitions and excitement about being the one man again- was he not the one man

during Medvedev period, probably yes but not officially- prevent him from doing that.

Democracy, in theory, is a system where all the candidates have equal opportunities to present

themselves. Did other candidates have this opportunity? The answer is no. Putin used his formerly

placed bureaucrats, his formerly established national bourgeoisie and the mainstream media to launch

an extreme election campaign in his favor while his opponents did what they could in their limited power.

As a former KGB agent, Putin knows how to achieve his goals quite well, and stops at nothing before real-

izing them. This is where the lie part begins.

Electoral fraud allegations were present both in the Duma Elections and the Presidential Elec-

tions. On December 10th 2011, the protestors known as “For Fair Elections” came up with 5 main de-

mands: freedom for political prisoners, annulment of the election results, the resignation of the head of

the election commission and opening an investigation on the vote fraud, registration of opposition parties

and new democratic legislation on parties and elections, and new democratic and fair elections.

(Guardian Web Page, 2011) 4 of these demands were never realized; furthermore nearly 1000 protestors

were arrested that day after riot police demonstrated good examples of classical police brutality acts. A

formal investigation took place on the vote fraud but the officials claimed they did not find any evidence

of such. But since these officials are the officials of the new bureaucratic system of Russia established by

Putin himself, one may wonder how credible they are. Similar demands were raised by the protestors af-

ter the Presidential Elections, on March 5th, with similar results. Several hundred people were arrested

during the protests in Moscow and St. Petersburg, which is the hometown of Putin.

It has been over 20 years since the “undemocratic Soviet system” collapsed. But Russian people

are still ruled by a “General Secretary of Communist Party” or, if we go deeper into Russian history, a

“Tsar”. Ideological Cold War may be over for now, but economic and military Cold War still goes on and

likely to go on in the future as the unchallenged and consolidated authority of the “one man”, who has all

the bureaucratic, legislative and judiciary power, in Russia.

Bibliography

Guardian Web Page. (2011, December 10). Retrieved March 11, 2012, from The Guardian: http://

www.guardian.co.uk/global/2011/dec/10/russia-elections-putin-protest

The Economist Web Page. (2012, March 5). Retrieved March 11, 2012, from The Economist: http://

www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2012/03/russias-presidential-election

Türker, T. (2008). Rusya Başkanlık Seçimi: Putin Planı. Kronik .

PAGE 6

In this April 5, 2009 image, a rocket is lifted off from its launch pad in

Musudan-ri, North Korea. North Korea announced Friday it plans to launch a long-range rocket mounted with a satellite next month.

ASIA

Afghan Taliban suspend talks The Afghan Taliban announced Thursday they have suspended a

diplomatic office in Qatar intended for talks with the United States.

American troops should pull out of outposts in Afghan villages and return

to their main bases, Afghan President Hamid Karzai told U.S. Defense

Secretary Leon Panetta on Thursday, Karzai's office said. U.S. President

Barack Obama said Wednesday that a summit of NATO leaders in May in

Chicago will "determine the next phase of transition," including "shifting to

a support role next year ... in advance of Afghans' taking full responsibility

for security in 2014." On the other hand, the U.S. soldier accused of a

shooting rampage that left 16 people dead in southern Afghanistan has

been identified by the military as Army Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, a decorated combat veteran who once

exhorted against the killing of civilians. CNN / March 15, 2012

North Korea said Friday that it intends to blast a satellite into space using

a long-range rocket, an announcement that drew international condemna-

tion and seemed to run counter to Pyongyang's recent promise to halt weapons tests in exchange for food. The North's announcement comes just

16 days after an agreement with the U.S. in which the famine-stricken Py-

ongyang said it would halt parts of its nuclear program and suspend all

weapons tests in exchange for 240,000 metric tons of food aid. Even if the

North's rocket propels a satellite, rather than a missile, into orbit, the

launch could jeopardize the food deal. Both U.S. and South Korean gov-ernment officials have described the North Korean satellite program as a

cover for long-range missile tests, because they use similar technology and

are difficult for outsiders to distinguish. The key difference is a matter of

payload: satellites are designated for communication and observation; mis-

siles are for destruction. The Washington Post / March 16, 2012

Chinese premier sacks party leader from top city post

One of China's most prominent politicians, Bo Xilai, has been removed

as Communist Party boss in the city of Chongqing.

Ambitious Chinese Communist Party leadership

contender Bo Xilai has been sacked from his post

as head of the city of Chongqing in a dramatic move that exposes growing ideological divisions just as a

new generation readies to take power. His abrupt

downfall, announced on Thursday by the official

Xinhua news agency, threatens to kindle tension

between his supporters, who favor a more tradi-

tional, state-dominated version of socialism, and liberal critics, who saw him as a dangerous opportunist. Times247 /March 15, 2012

North Korea announces April rocket launch

More Russians than ever

support Iran in its standoff with the United States,

though most of the

populace is against the

country taking sides in

international disputes, according to a new poll by

state-run VTsIOM. RIA

Novosti / March 15, 2012

The United States, Europe

and Japanhave joined

forces to challenge China's restrictions on exports of

r a r e - e a r t h m e t a l s ,

escalating a trade row over

access to some of the most

important raw materials

u s e d i n a d v a n c e d technologies. Reuters /

March 14, 2012

The Pakistani government

is debating a new policy to

re-draw its military rules of

engagement with the US that could threaten to

further strain diplomatic

relations between the two

countries. Al-Jazeera /

March 17, 2012

President faces harsh questioning that leads to calls for impeachment.

Ahmadinejad hit back defiantly at his questioners on Wednesday, provok-

ing the anger of the chamber with jabs and sarcastic jokes. The disrespect

drew strong condemnation from the members of parliament. "If the parlia-

ment had supported Ahmadinejad before today, it's now lost," Mohammad

Taqi Rahbar, a parliamentarian, said. Rahbar like many other conservatives

supported Ahmadinejad prior to April 2011, when the president publicly

challenged Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who has final say on

all matters of state, over the appointment of the intelligence chief. This,

combined with the president's perceived reluctance to heed expert economic

advice, has convinced many hardliners that Ahmadinejad wanted to expand the powers of the Iranian

presidency that was previously subordinate to clerical leaders. Al-Jazeera / March 14, 2012

Kofi Annan leads close contacts and diplo-

matic relations between senior Syrian authori-ties, Russia and other powers to end the fight-

ing, his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said. Also,

"The door of dialogue is still open. We are still

engaged with Syrian authorities over Mr. An-

nan's proposals," Fawzi said in Geneva. "He's been in telephone contact with the Syrian for-

eign minister during the course of the day as

well as with international actors, member

states with influence." Furthermore, Kofi An-

nan, the joint U.N.-Arab League special envoy

for Syria, prepared a proposal to settle the disputes in Syria. Annan emphasized humanitarian access to civilians, the

importance of political dialogue between Assad regime and the Syrian oppo-

sition and halting to fight and he insisted on these steps should be urgently

applied to end the fighting in Syria. Reuters / March 15, 2012

MIDDLE EAST & AFRICA

“Door of Dialogue” still open

Egypt house votes to expel Israeli envoy

Egypt's lower house of parliament has called for the expulsion of the Israeli

ambassador from Cairo and halting of gas exports. The vote was taken by a show of hands on a report approved by the Arab affairs committee of the

People's Assembly calling for "the expulsion from Egypt of the Israeli

ambassador and the recall of Egypt's envoy from Tel Aviv", on Monday.

Lower house also called on the Egyptian government "to revise all its

relations and agreements with that enemy." The motion is seen as largely symbolic as only the ruling military council can make such decisions. There

was no immediate comment from Israel on the vote. Al-Jazeera / March

13, 2012

The International Court of

Justice began hearing an

extradition request for the former president of Chad

Hissen Habre who is

described as “African

Pinochet” and indicted for

crimes of humanity. Euronews / March 12,

2012

DR Congo’s Lubanga has

been found guilty of war crimes at the International

Criminal Court. He was

accused of recruiting and

using child soldiers during

the Democratic Republic of Congo's 1998-2003 war.

Al-Jazeera / March, 15

2012

22 people were arrested by t h e au t hor i t i e s i n

Azerbaijan on suspicion of

spying for Iran. Also, they

were accused of links to

the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. BBC / March 14,

2012

PAGE 7

Iran parliament grills embattled Ahmadinejad

Parliament's lower chamber approves text which calls on the

government "to revise all its relations... with that enemy".

As Syria’s uprising enters its second year, bloodsheds still continue and

negotiator Annan is seeking a peaceful way to end the violence.

PAGE 8

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

Tarak Barkawi

Tarak Barkawi is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics, New School for Social

Research.

A US soldier's massacre of 16 Afghan civilians is causing US-Afghan relations to fray further.

New York, NY - To listen to US and European officials, all is well with the Western project in Af-

ghanistan. Absent awareness of the irony, President Obama and Prime Minister David Cameron have an-

nounced that this project is in its "final phases". "The trajectory we've set", said an advisor of President

Obama's who specialises in strategic communications, "is one of transition and Afghan sovereignty". As

the Afghans move into the lead, the US will be able to pull back. It is as if the symphony of war was set to

the rational beats of Western political calendars. For General John R Allen, the overall commander in Af-

ghanistan, "The campaign is sound. It is solid."

Faced with news of 16 Afghans murdered by a rogue US sergeant and an upcoming NATO summit

with politicians eager to pull out of an unpopular war, a European official blandly assured the media:

"The most important thing now is the messaging." Sound bites will not save the West's latest effort to

modernise Afghanistan.

We are dealing here with peoples whose historical trajectory has dealt out repeated defeats to the

world's greatest empires. You cannot make war successfully in such places as an afterthought to the cri-

ses of economy and democracy in the West.

The conflict in Afghanistan is at a decisive juncture, and the West is facing defeat on a scale not

seen since Vietnam. Few want to face facts, and the result is a gap between rhetoric and reality of a kind

that only wars gone badly wrong produce.

Lost in the rolling crisis that began with the Quran burning is an important upcoming date. At

the end of this month, the Karzai regime will see through its threat to force out the private security com-

panies who guard the contractors that carry out development projects across Afghanistan.

Humanitarian NGOs that operate without security will be unaffected. But the contractors who

carry out projects funded by Western governments face the prospect of operating under the protection of

a hastily raised "Afghan Public Protection Force". Would you put your business and your life in the hands

of such a force?

According to the New York Times, some companies are wrapping up their projects in Afghanistan

and leaving; others allow their employees to illegally keep personal weapons; and all are scrambling to

make new arrangements.

In the kind of corporate buffoonery that neoliberal privatisation creates, and which has damaged

the Western war effort in both Iraq and Afghanistan, one US company is considering suing the US gov-

ernment. The contractors had been assured that they would have a secure environment in which to oper-

ate.

Another company is stationing guards with its employees who work in Afghan ministries. So un-

welcome are Westerners assisting Afghans in developing their country that the advisors need bodyguards

inside government offices. A better indicator of just how illegitimate for Afghans the continued Western

presence is could hardly be imagined.

As one frightened US employee of an aid company commented, "We're easy pickings" for insur-

gents and angry Afghans. And there are a lot of angry Afghans. Abdul Samad is one of them. He lost 11

relatives to the rogue sergeant in Panjwai. Along with those who have demonstrated against the Quran

burnings, the Taliban, and the silent majority of Afghans, Mr. Samad has one demand: It is time for the

Americans to leave, all of them.

Denial and defeat in Afghanistan

PAGE 9

ARTICLE OF THE WEEK

There in lays the reality that Western officials

cannot face. The West is not welcome in Afghanistan

and is only present by force of arms. Westerners pre-

fer to believe that, a few bad apples aside, most

"ordinary Afghans" support Western led development.

The basic idea of the "solid" and "sound" cam-

paign is that Western combat forces will depart by

2014, leaving behind a large development assistance

programme and a small counter-terrorism and advi-

sory force, shielded by trained Afghan security forces.

Members of these forces have repeatedly

turned on their Western advisors, slaughtering them

unawares. Can there be any more sure sign of the

moral decay of the West? First it contracts out its

dirty work in forlorn campaigns of white man's burden

to its professional soldiers, then to its own hired guns, and onwards to Afghan recruits.

Shock is then expressed in all quarters of Western opinion when these Afghans turn on their in-

vaders. The fiction is that somehow the Karzai regime will be ready to "take the lead". But the regime is a

creation of the Western presence, and is mostly an opportunity for corruption for well-connected Af-

ghans. They are moving their money, much of it skimmed off Western development aid, out of the coun-

try at an increasing rate. The writing is on the wall and a comfortable exile funded by stolen Western tax

dollars beckons.

What is left unexplained in the official story is just how it is that a small Western counter-

terrorism force, civilian development contractors, and the pathetic faux-patriotic Karzai can long survive

in a country that over 130,000 first line Western troops with their full panoply could not secure.

To be sure, as long as large numbers of Western troops are present, the insurgents cannot win.

But neither can those troops decisively defeat the insurgency, nor can they win the allegiance of the Af-

ghan population in the middle of a shooting war.

Inevitably, the troops will leave one way or another and the Karzai regime and the Western devel-

opment enterprise will be swept away by angry Afghans of many different stripes.

The West's only realistic option is to regroup in a statelet based on the old Northern Alliance, from

which it can launch counter-terror operations and continue to deny Afghanistan as a base for terrorism.

A problem here is that the Europeans, with their exhausted liberal publics, could never go along with

such an exercise in realpolitik.

President Obama, too, probably lacks the ruthlessness, while his political advisors will tell him to

cut and run from an unpopular war in an election year. After all, exiting and forgetting has worked so far

in Iraq.

Western opinion and financial crisis have decreed that the troops must come out of Afghanistan

by the end of 2014. Yet the Western project there is doomed without those troops, and even their contin-

ued presence guarantees only a longer run for the tragic and bloody status quo.

These contradictions will come to a head before the next two years are out. Withdrawal of Western

troops is likely to be followed by a collapse of the Karzai regime and civil war. While some committed hu-

manitarian NGOs will always remain in the country no matter the circumstances, such chaos and disor-

der will see off the bulk of the Western development presence.

The upshot will be that the West has little to show for over ten years in Afghanistan but the

corpses of Osama bin Laden and his fighters. Al-Jazeera / March 15, 2012

PAGE 6

TURKEY

Turkey: 2 missing Turkish journalists held by pro-government forces in Syria

Turkish Minister of Justice

Sadullah Ergin says they are preparing a series of reform

packages on freedom of

expression, press freedom

and human rights to

decrease cases involving Turkey at ECHR.

Hurriyet Daily News /

March 17, 2012

Journalists Ahmet Şık and

Nedim Şener are free after

375 days in prison after

an Istanbul court ordered their release in the ongoing

OdaTV case late yesterday.

Hurriyet Daily News /

March 13, 2012

The 1993 Sivas Massacre

Case was dropped on 13 March by the Ankara High

Criminal Court due to a

statute of limitations.

DHA / March 12, 2012

PAGE 10

Helicopter crash kills 12 Turkish soldiers, 4 Afghans

A NATO helicopter crashed into a house on the outskirts of the Af-

ghan capital, Kabul, on Friday, killing 12 Turkish soldiers on board

and 4 Afghan civilians on the ground, Turkish military and Afghan authorities announced.

The helicopter, a Sikorksy, crashed during training. Nine of the military members were officers, two of them were non-commissioned officers, while

one of them was a special sergeant, news agencies reported. The officer

said the cause of the crash appeared to be a technical fault. NATO's Inter-

national Security Assistance Force (ISAF) said earlier that the cause of the crash was still unknown but

that there had been no reports of insurgent action in the area. Friday’s helicopter crash increased the

number of Turkish troops killed in Afghanistan to 15. Turkey, the Muslim nation with the highest num-ber of troops and civilian workers in ISAF, has some 1,650 troops in the country. In 2009, Turkey took

over leadership from France of the Kabul Regional Command for a year, which was later extended for one

year periods. Turkey will be the leader of the Kabul Regional Command until Nov. 1, 2012, and Turkey’s

mission in Afghanistan is expected to end in 2014. Today’s Zaman / March 16, 2012

Buffer zone for Syria not on agenda of Turkey

Turkey suspends its consular services in Damascus and ‘strongly’ rec-

ommends nationals to leave Syria due to the security risks, while

hundreds of refugees cross hills into Turkey, to be taken into camps there.

Turkey does not plan to establish a buffer zone for refugees on the Syrian

side of its border with the Arab republic unless there is a United Nations initiative to do so, senior officials told the Hurriyet Daily News March 16.

The news came after Deputy Prime Minister Beşir Atalay announced

that Turkey was preparing to establish a buffer zone in order to host refu-

gees fleeing clashes in Syria. The head of the Turkish Red Crescent also

said Ankara was laying plans to host upward of 500,000 possible refugees.

Turkey also called on its citizens to leave Syria amid hints by Prime Minis-ter Recep Tayyip Erdoğan that Ankara was considering cutting ties with

Damascus. “We are considering all options, including the withdrawal of

our ambassador,” Erdoğan said. Turkey announced March 16 the end of

consular services in Damascus. Hurriyet Daily News / March 17, 2012

Turkey’s deputy prime minister says two missing Turkish journalists

are being held by Syrian forces and that his government is trying to

get them released.

The journalists — a writer for Milat newspaper and a freelance cameraman

— last called the paper on Saturday from the northern city of Idlib, a bas-tion of rebel support which the Syrian army took control of three days

later. Ali Adakoglu, managing editor of Milat, says the paper will work to

bring writer Adem Ozkose and cameraman Hamit Coskun back home. Tur-

key’s state-run Anadolu Agency, citing unidentified local sources, says the

journalists were handed over to Syrian intelligence agents near the north-

ern town of Binnis. The Washington Post / March 15, 2012

19 March 2012 :

“Sunay AKIN” (Show)

Cüneyt Gökçer Stage / 20.00

“Set” (Party)

Passage Pub / 20.00

20 March 2012 :

“Gelecekte Kariyer” (Seminar)

A-D Halls METU KKM / 11.15-18.45

“Kirli Beyaz” (Party)

IF Performance Hall / 21.30

“Kartpostal, Panorama, Cep Telefonları”

(Photography Exhibition and Course)

AFSAD / 19.00

21 March 2012 :

“Gelecekte Kariyer” (Seminar)

All Halls METU KKM / 11.15-17.15

“Edepsiz Komedi” (Theater)

IF Performance Hall / 21.00

“R&B Nights” (Party)

Club Escape / 20.00

22 March 2012 :

“Yasemin MORİ” (Concer)

IF Performance Hall / 23.30

“Karaoke Night” (Party)

Passage Pub / 20.00

“Zorba” (Ballet)

Opera Stage / 20.00

23 March 2012 :

“YAŞAR“ (Concer)

Meşrep Çayyolu / 21.30

“SILA” (Concer)

Anadolu Gösteri ve Kongre Merkezi / 21.00

“Gökhan TÜRKMEN” (Concer)

Jolly Joker / 22.00

24 March 2012 :

“HALİL SEZAİ” (Concer)

Jolly Joker / 22.30

“Hayal Kahvesi” (Theater)

Ku-Ka Stage / 20.00

25 March 2012 :

“Şan Piano Recital” (Concer)

Operet Stage / 20.00

“Kerbela” (Theater)

Cüneyt Gökçer Stage / 15.00

ODDLY ENOUGH

PAGE 11

WHAT IS ISAF?

The International Security Assistance

Force (ISAF) is a NATO-led security mission in Af-

ghanistan established by the United Nations Secu-rity Council on 20 December 2001 by Resolution

1386 as envisaged by the Bonn Agreement.

ISAF was initially charged with secur-ing Kabul and surrounding areas from the Taliban,

al Qaeda and factional warlords, so as to allow for

the establishment of the Afghan Transitional Ad-

ministration headed by Hamid Karzai. In October

2003, the UN Security Council authorized the ex-pansion of the ISAF mission throughout Afghani-

stan, and ISAF subsequently expanded the mission

in four main stages over the whole of the coun-

try. Since 2006, ISAF has been involved in more

intensive combat operations in southern Afghani-

stan, a tendency which continued in 2007 and 2008.

Troop contributors include the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New

Zealand, Germany, France, Hungary, Italy, Spain,

Turkey, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Croatia, Geor-

gia, Denmark, Belgium, Czech Republic, Norway,

Bulgaria, South Korea, Slovakia, Albania, Azerbai-jan, Slovenia and Singapore.

EDITORIAL

ANKARA - 100.YIL

36.CAD. NO:23 / B 100.YIL

(0312) 284 20 00

Çalışma Saatleri: 11:00 - 23:00

Servis Süresi: 30 dakika

GENERAL DIRECTOR

SİBEL DÜZ

COORDINATORS

ALPER AKGÜN

FURKAN ÖZTÜRK

HANDE KAYMA

MEHMET YETİM

ÖZLEM MELİS MUTLU

TALYA YÜZÜCÜ

CORRESPONDENTS

BEGÜM ÇELİKTUTAN

MANSUR ALİ GEDİK

MELTEM SÖĞÜTCEPINAR

RYSBEK AKYLBEK UULU

YAĞMUR ERŞAN

YİĞİT AYDOĞ

ZEYNEP NUR GÖZÜTOK

Official website of the organization:

http://eurosima2012.org/home/